


The Aftermath

by MikaKagehjra



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Gen, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, takes place after season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 17:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5014327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaKagehjra/pseuds/MikaKagehjra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jesse is finding it difficult to cope after regaining his own body from Yubel. When things finally come to a breaking point, he's going to have to figure out how to move forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Aftermath

Jesse hadn't slept properly in weeks. The nurse said it was normal, after what he'd been through, and Jesse had wanted to scream about how none of this was normal, but he'd remained quiet. He'd been quiet a lot lately, according to Syrus and Hassleberry, and he didn't know how to explain it all to them, who had certainly been through ordeals of their own, but still couldn't understand. They tried to help, each in their own way, but he couldn't put into words they would understand how he felt after everything that had happened to all of them.  


Whenever he tried to sleep, the feeling of falling into unconsciousness made him think Yubel was back, and he came gasping awake and clutching his chest as though that would help him fight her darkness. When he tried to speak, he was afraid of his own voice, always half-convinced that it would come out as hers, or else no one would hear him because he was trapped inside his own mind again. He never turned the light off in his room or went out after dark, and whenever he closed his eyes for longer than it took to blink he shook with the terror that he'd never be able to see outside his own body again. His anxiety only grew stronger as he grew more sluggish with exhaustion, feeling like he had less control over his body with each day that passed. Yubel might be gone, but she still haunted him in ways the others couldn't understand.  


And it was too quiet without the Crystal Beasts. They were with Jaden, wherever he was, and Jesse hoped they were helping him even as he missed them desperately. And all he could do was hope—the professors refused to allow him to search for Jaden, citing his deteriorating health and what had happened last time as reasons. An anger Jesse didn't know what to do with stirred in his chest, and this time he did scream. Jaden had gone to such lengths to rescue him, and they were abandoning him like he didn't even matter. Hassleberry and Axel had needed to drag him away, Syrus following tearfully. Jesse hadn't realized he was crying too until he was too tired to keep struggling. Jaden had rescued him, but he couldn't rescue Jaden.  


Things came to a head when he collapsed during a duel, his insomnia finally catching up to him. He was glad to have finally gotten to sleep, but he still woke up screaming. It was dark, Yubel was back, he could feel her despair choking him again and he couldn't fight it—  


The lamp next to his bed in the infirmary switched on, and the face it illuminated made Jesse relax more than he had in weeks—months, even—the guilt and anxiety quieting for just a few moments to make way for relief strong enough to make him dizzy.  


“Jaden. You're here.” He paused, the fear returning again. “...Is this a dream?”  


“No. You can pinch yourself if you don't believe me.” But Jaden closed his hand around Jesse's wrist when he lifted his hand to do just that. “I'm real; you don't have to hurt yourself to prove it. I needed some time, but I was always going to come back.” With his free hand, he held out a stack of cards to Jesse, and Jesse felt warmth tickling the edges of his mind before he even reached out to take them.  


“Thank you. Did they help?” Even though she remained hidden for now, Ruby's cry echoed in Jesse's ears. He felt that made safe even if the Crystal Beasts hadn't been able to save him before. They felt familiar in a way that nothing else did anymore.  


“I only won because I had them. Thank you for your support; it was almost like we were dueling together again.”  


Jesse remembered the tag duel they'd actually had and winced. He certainly didn't regret his decision to join the duel or send everyone else home, but that didn't make what had happened afterwards any less painful. “I'm glad. I'd like to duel with you again, with lower stakes.”  


Jaden sighed and leaned back in his chair, the dim light making it hard to make out his expression. Jesse took a moment to observe him more closely; he looked healthy, so whatever he'd been doing, he'd been taking care of himself. His posture was different, though; when Jesse had first met Jaden, he'd known the other could take on the world at a first glance. It wasn't that Jaden looked defeated now, but he seemed... tired. Like he'd taken on the world already, and just barely won.  


“I'm glad you came back safe. I threw a tantrum when they wouldn't let me look for you.”  


“I heard; I talked to Syrus earlier, so he filled me in on everything and told me you were here. It's okay that you didn't come find me. I didn't want to be found.” Jaden paused, letting Jesse process that, but also hesitating. “I hoped I'd have a little more time before we talked about this, but I guess I should've known; Syrus told me about all the trouble you've been having with everything.”  


“Traitor,” Jesse mumbled, and he froze. It almost felt like he'd heard Yubel's voice mixed with his own again, and suddenly he really needed to leave but Jaden was talking again. After all that worry after him, the relief that he was there and healthy was enough to make him stay.  


“It's okay that you need time to feel safe in your own head again. After the reign of the Supreme King, I know I needed it. And that's why I didn't come back right away with the rest of you. I needed time again.”  


Jesse knew that it was okay, even rational, to feel vulnerable. And surely, Jaden understood that as well. He had to be getting at something else—that's what Jesse would do. “If you want to tell me something, it's okay. You can just tell me.”  


Jaden took a deep breath. “Yubel wants to talk to you.”  


Whatever Jesse had expected, it wasn't that. He blurted out, “What?!” and the sound was cut off by his lungs seizing in a blind panic. His hands felt like ice, and they trembled around the deck of cards in his hands. He could feel the darkness around him, pressing at the edges of his mind, suffocating him.  


“Jesse—“  


“She's here,” he said firmly, cutting Jaden off. It wasn't a question; he was sure that he could feel her presence, now that he tried. It was even possible that her proximity was what had woken him up in the first place, though he could have easily woken up on his own with his track record. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized Yubel's spirit had materialized behind Jaden's shoulder, as though she was guarding him. He didn't mean to, but he made eye contact and couldn't look away, frozen in place by those mismatched eyes that had haunted his nightmares. “What did you do?” Jesse demanded, speaking to Jaden even though he was still looking at Yubel.  


“Jaden used—“  


“Don't you dare presume to speak for him. Jaden is his own person; you don't control him, and you don't get to talk over him.” Though his words were sure and firm, he still shook with fear. He was terrified of Yubel, and he hated it, but he would defy his terror to make sure that Jaden didn't suffer the way he had.  


“It's okay, Jess,” Jaden reassured him, reaching out to steady his shaking hands. “At the end of our duel, I used Super Polymerization to fuse Yubel and me together.” When Jesse's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest, Jaden held up a hand to quiet him. “I wanted to save her—I want to save her.”  


Jesse couldn't help but feel sick. He knew Jaden was kind nearly to a fault, but showing mercy to someone as ruthless and destructive as Yubel... “Why?”  


“I guess it's because I felt responsible for her suffering. I wanted to help her then, and I only made her lonely. In the beginning, she only wanted to protect me. But she was overzealous, and she hurt a lot of people and scared me, so I sent her away hoping she would come back less violent. Instead, I only hurt her. No one deserves to be rejected and abandoned by their only friend.”  


“Jaden and I have been communicating while we were away; he wanted to come back with both of us at peace.”  


Hearing Yubel's voice sent a shudder down Jesse's spine, and anger followed soon after. “And what about me? What about Syrus, Alexis, Aster, and everyone else who had to suffer for your twisted revenge? When do we get to be at peace?” Jesse was dismayed to realize that he was crying, but that couldn't stop him now that he'd gotten started. “Thousands of people and duel monsters died because you wanted to hurt Jaden. The blood of the Supreme King's victims isn't on his hands; it's on yours.”  


Jaden looked distressed, but Yubel only said, “I know.”  


“Why do you get to be at peace when I may never feel safe in my own head again?” Jesse challenged, crying in earnest now, fists twisted in his bedsheets.  


“I understand that I cannot atone for the crimes I have already committed. I am... regretful, that this continues to cause you pain. Jaden has been kind enough to give me another chance; I know I cannot ask the same of you, and I wouldn't dare to. I wanted to talk to you, so that you would know that I will do my best to remain unobtrusive. It pains Jaden to know that you hurt.”  


“And all of a sudden you care so much about what hurts Jaden?”  


Yubel was unbothered by this accusation, or if she was, she didn't show it. “Yes; Jaden proved that he didn't intend to cause me pain with his actions by saving me after all that I'd done. I will resume my post as his protector. And during our communications, he's made clear what it is about my care that frightened him the first time, and I will be careful to avoid making the same transgressions again.”  


“I don't trust you.”  


“I understand.”  


“I know you'll still be able to hear me, but can I just talk to Jaden now?” Yubel didn't respond, instead fading away so that her spirit was once again invisible. “You... really are too kind for your own good, you know.” Jesse could still feel himself trembling.  


“Yeah, I've been told that a few times. It's why we became friends in the first place though, yeah? You're not much better.”  


Jesse shook his head, laughing weakly. “Yeah, I'm not. But this is...”  


“It's a lot, I know. I'm sorry that this is gonna be hard for you.”  


“I'm just sorry you're gonna be stuck with her in your head all the time from now on. I'll be okay. Hopefully I can learn to sleep again one of these days.”  


“We'll figure it out together.” And when Jaden smiled at him like that, even with Yubel inside his head, Jesse knew that no matter how afraid he was now, everything would turn out okay.


End file.
